Roto Riteup: June 19, 2019

by
June 19, 2019

How I would look in a Major League at bat:

 

On the Agenda:
1. The Sleeper and the Bust DFS contest
2. Various News and Notes
3. Quick Hits
4. Streaming Pitching Options

 

The Sleeper and the Bust DFS contest
Every week The Sleeper and the Bust podcast puts together a DFS contest on DraftKings. The winner gets a shoutout on the podcast as well as the Roto Riteup and my and Paul’s hard earned cash. This week’s winner was Adam1377!

You Aren't a FanGraphs Member
It looks like you aren't yet a FanGraphs Member (or aren't logged in). We aren't mad, just disappointed.
We get it. You want to read this article. But before we let you get back to it, we'd like to point out a few of the good reasons why you should become a Member.
1. Ad Free viewing! We won't bug you with this ad, or any other.
2. Unlimited articles! Non-Members only get to read 10 free articles a month. Members never get cut off.
3. Dark mode and Classic mode!
4. Custom player page dashboards! Choose the player cards you want, in the order you want them.
5. One-click data exports! Export our projections and leaderboards for your personal projects.
6. Remove the photos on the home page! (Honestly, this doesn't sound so great to us, but some people wanted it, and we like to give our Members what they want.)
7. Even more Steamer projections! We have handedness, percentile, and context neutral projections available for Members only.
8. Get FanGraphs Walk-Off, a customized year end review! Find out exactly how you used FanGraphs this year, and how that compares to other Members. Don't be a victim of FOMO.
9. A weekly mailbag column, exclusively for Members.
10. Help support FanGraphs and our entire staff! Our Members provide us with critical resources to improve the site and deliver new features!
We hope you'll consider a Membership today, for yourself or as a gift! And we realize this has been an awfully long sales pitch, so we've also removed all the other ads in this article. We didn't want to overdo it.

 

Various News and Notes
Max Scherzer broke his nose while participating in a bunting drill.

While the obvious answer to this video is to tweet out #NeverBunt, Baseball Twitter was happy to give their suggestions:


https://twitter.com/sung_minkim/status/1141143225509376000


https://twitter.com/_N_H_Y_/status/1141139994742001664

Scherzer is day-to-day right now and it appears he may actually avoid an IL stint.

Max Kepler hit the game tying home run in the 13th inning and the game winning hit in the 17th versus the Red Sox. Kepler is putting together a fantastic season, building on the skill improvements from last season. He has been much more aggressive this season, especially in the zone and it is paying off. His .928 OPS is 18th in Major League Baseball and he is already only two home runs away from tying his career high in long balls.

Willie Calhoun hit a home run on Tuesday. Calhoun was activated from the IL this week and is in line for added playing time with both Joey Gallo and Hunter Pence on the IL, but are expected back in the not too distant future. There is no doubt about Calhoun’s offensive ability, but he struggles defensively. He is worth an add in most formats, but could be ticketed back to the bench once the Rangers gets healthy.

Oscar Mercado stole two bases in the Indians win over the Rangers on Tuesday. Mercado is extremely hot right now, hitting .417/.462/.708 with a home run and four stolen bases over his last five games. He is getting a bulk of the playing time in the depleted Indians outfield and is cementing his role there.

Michael Lorenzen received his second straight save on Tuesday. This is starting to look like a closer controversy and Lorenzen should be snatched up in most formats on the chance he is supplanting closer Rasiel Iglesias.

 

Quick Hits
Mike Moustakas left Tuesday’s game after being hit on the hand with a pitch. X-rays on the hand were negative, but he is expected to miss Wednesday’s game.

Aldaberto Mondesi left Tuesday’s game with a groin injury. The injury is being characterized as tightness and the Royals have said the move was precautionary. Consider him day-to-day for now.

Aaron Judge homered in a rehab game in AAA. He could be back later this week from the IL where he has been recovering from an oblique injury. ]

Mike Clevinger is dealing with an ankle injury after his start on Monday. The Indians are optimistic that he will be able to make his next start, but he could miss a turn in the rotation or head back to the IL. This does shed some light on why he fell apart in the outing.

 

Streaming Pitching Options (Less than 50% owned)
Pitcher for Today: None
Not many great options in a smaller slate.

High Risk Options: Trevor Richards at STL.

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Dylan Bundy at SEA
Bundy has been up and down as of late, but he is facing a struggling Mariners team and is not in his homer happy park.

High Risk Options: Glenn Sparkman vs MIN





 

Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
viceroyMember since 2020
6 years ago

Is Willie Calhoun worth dropping Kole Calhoun for?

-2
Maverik312
6 years ago
Reply to  viceroy

Hell yes.

0
LenFuegoMember since 2025
6 years ago
Reply to  viceroy

The way they stand and walk, they both look just like a little Rory Calhoun.

0